Dakota's Claim (10 page)

“He,
brother,” Link said, and walked over to them. The scent of liquor came from the
younger member, and his eyes were glossy and bloodshot from his clear
intoxication.

Dakota
pulled her closer to his body, squeezed the side of her flesh with his fingers,
and she saw how Link looked down and noticed the act. His eyebrows lifted, and
he glanced over at Gabriel. God, if this became a scene because Gabriel was
drunk, was still going to make it seem like he didn’t understand she only
wanted to be friends,
then
she’d kick his ass herself.
They hadn’t talked since going out and him kissing her, and although she had
made herself clear, it was clear, because of that not so friendly act from him,
that Gabriel was going by his own rules. He was an MC member, lived by his own
code, which she was used to.

“So, what’s … up?”
Link asked and looked down at
where Dakota held her again.
“Didn’t know you and Tawny were
a thing.”
Link looked at her now, smiled, but it looked a little off,
and not because Link was drunk.

“Yeah,”
was all Dakota said.

“Hey,
you think we should get a couple of extra pizzas to bring back to the club?”
Gabriel said, and then turned around from where he was leaning against the
counter. When he saw Dakota he grinned, and then he looked at Tawny, saw that
Dakota held her close, and that smile faded. He moved a step closer, his
movements a little sloppy, and she knew he was far drunker than Link was. “Hey,
Dakota, what the hell is going on?” Gabriel asked in a friendly, bullshitting
manner, but Tawny could tell that there was this underlying hint of anger and
hostility coming from the other male. Hell, she could smell the rage simmering
below the surfaces of both Dakota and Gabriel.

“Not
much, man.
Just about to leave.”
Dakota tightened his
hands on her side, a little painfully, but she knew that this situation was
probably near to pushing him over the edge. “Tawny and I were going to go talk
someplace a little less open.”

Gabriel
nodded slowly, looked over at her, and slowly dragged his gaze down to her
breasts, and lower still. He lifted his gaze just as slowly as he had on the
way down, and although she wore a sweater tunic and leggings, and her coat
draped over her arm, she felt uncomfortably naked and on display right now.
Gabriel was drunk, and she knew that if he had been sober he probably wouldn’t
be blatantly checking her out right now, especially not when Dakota held her so
closely.

“So,
Tawny,” Gabriel addressed her, not bothering to respond to what Dakota had just
said. “I had a really good time when we went out.” He took a step closer, and
she felt Dakota tense beside her. “I was waiting to give you some time and
space, hoping you’d call me, because I have been thinking a lot about you.”

Dakota
made this low sound in his throat, and Gabriel looked at the other biker, this
smirk on his face. His eyes were glossy and bloodshot, and he reeked of alcohol
even worse than Link.

“Gabriel,
are you really doing this right now?” she asked with incredulity in her voice.
The scent of his need to antagonize Dakota, to try to piss him off even worth
by bringing up their non-date dinner and movie, was now pissing
her
off.
 

“I’m
not doing anything, Tawny. All I was saying was that I enjoyed our date, and
the kiss at the end of it.” Gabriel grinned and glanced at Dakota, as if
rubbing that statement in.

If
she didn’t get Dakota out of here, shit was really going to hit the fan.
  

Chapter
Eight

Dakota
saw red, but told himself that he didn’t want to get into this with a fellow
Brother. Gabriel was part of his family, a brother of the club, and starting
shit with him would be bad all around. He was also drunk, and Dakota knew the
other man well enough to know that right now he was probably pissed that the
girl he had wanted wasn’t feeling him, and was with Dakota now. But it was hard
to ignore the fact that despite Gabriel being intoxicated and a part of him was
probably hurting right now, that he kept eye-fucking Tawny. Maybe Gabriel
hadn’t wanted her for more than a night of sex, which in itself infuriated
Dakota—but there also
may have been a part of the other man
that had really started to care for Tawny. It was hard not to when Tawny had
every attribute that turned a man on. He looked at
her,
saw the beauty in her face and body, the intelligence in her mind and the
strength she held herself with. She was the whole package, but she was his.
Only
his
.

He
let go of her, took a step toward Gabriel, and said in a low voice, “Brother,
I’m not going to do this with you right now.”

Gabriel’s
nostrils flared, and he flicked his gaze to Tawny, but Dakota moved to the
side, blocking his view.

“No,
you don’t get to look at her, think about her, fuck, I don’t even know if I
want you talking to her.”

Gabriel
made this low voice in his throat, only loud enough for Dakota to hear. “You
have one big set of nuts to be talking to me like that.”

Dakota
clenched his hands at his sides, breathed out through his anger, and shook his
head. “I will talk to you any way I fucking want to, especially when it
concerns the woman that is mine, and that I love.” Dakota saw the way Gabriel
clenched his jaw, but after a few seconds he relaxed, his hostility fading, and
Dakota knew that the other man was starting to see reason. But Dakota was still
pissed, still jealous over the fact that Gabriel had been out with Tawny and
had kissed her, and the fact he had challenged him right now.

Gabriel
glanced at Tawny again, ground his teeth and looked back at Dakota. “You love
her?”

Dakota
nodded hard once, but didn’t look away from him. A moment of silence stretched
between them, and then Gabriel took a step back, nodded toward Link and Marcus,
and said, “I’ll be in the SUV. Marcus, get the pizzas okay?” Gabriel still
stared at Dakota as he spoke. He looked at Tawny again. “I’ll see you around.”

He
nodded at her, but the way he had said that last part wasn’t a threat or
challenge to Dakota. It was a man backing up, being polite before leaving, and
giving in. He turned and left the pizza joint. Dakota had sensed the defeat and
Gabriel stepping back from all of this. He was not going to start shit with the
other member, and it was clear that Gabriel felt the same way. But even though
all of that was in Dakota’s
favor,
and he wouldn’t
have to throw any punches at another member, that didn’t make his anger or
irritation over all of this any less.

He
glanced behind him, saw that fucking douchebag that kept looking at Tawny grin
his way, and turned to walk toward him. He had a lot of rage and adrenaline
moving through his body, and because he hadn’t gotten into it with Gabriel, he
was going to go ballistic on this little prick. The guy stood when Dakota took
another step, and then his buddies stood as well. That was all right. Dakota
could take them all. He was so pissed that his rage would be dispersed evenly
until they all lay on the ground at his feet, bloody and broken. Was it normal
that Dakota felt this intense possessive need and territorial feeling inside of
him for Tawny? Maybe not to a normal man, but he wasn’t normal. He was a
Brothers of Menace member, and a breed that was on a whole other level than the
normal person.

“Dakota,
come on,” Tawny said from behind him, grabbed his arms, and pulled gently.

He
looked at her, saw the pleading in her expression, and as much as he wanted to
get into this with the assholes, he also knew that he didn’t want to screw this
up with Tawny. Exhaling and reining in his anger, he nodded at her, turned,
wrapped his arm around her, and led her out of the restaurant.

They
stepped out into the frigid weather, and he led them toward his truck. Once
they were at the passenger side door he gripped her around the waist, and pressed
her back to the door. Dakota slid his hands up to her throat, cupped each side
of her neck, and kissed her. He put his anger, lust, love, and everything that
he was into that kiss. He didn’t know how to control himself, how to make
himself
less intense when it came to wanting her and keeping
her close. He pulled away an inch and murmured against her mouth, “I don’t know
how to be gentle when it comes to you, Tawny.” He cupped her cheeks and stared
into her eyes. “I feel like this beast is inside of me, wanting to kill
everything that comes close to you, baby.”

She
breathed out heavily against his mouth.

“I
want to act like this normal guy that takes his girl out for dinner without
wanting to beat a motherfucker for looking at you.” He rested his forehead on
hers, closed his eyes, and just laid it all out for her. “But I’ll never be
that guy, Tawny. I’ll never be able to brush things off, never not want to beat
an ass when a guy thinks he has some kind of claim on you.”

She
cupped his face and pulled his head back slightly. “You did though, Dakota. You
didn’t fight Gabriel, and you stopped from going after that guy in there.” She
smiled, rose on her toes, and kissed him. “You can be all of that and more. You
don’t have to change for me, just know what battles you should actually fight.”
She stared into his eyes, her blue ones bright, wide, and filled with honesty.
“Now, take me back to your place, and show me who I belong to, Dakota.” She
swallowed, looked down at the ground, and then after a second slowly lifted her
gaze back to his. “Be my first.”

****

Dakota
drove for another ten minutes, the silence in the car thick and filled with
arousal. They didn’t speak, and he knew that she was just as aroused as he was
by the fact she kept moving slightly on the seat, as if she were uncomfortable
in the position. He was so damn hard. It was like a steel rod was pressed to
his zipper, aching, full, and needing to be inside of her body. He couldn’t
take it any longer. He pulled the car off the road, the darkness cloaking them,
hiding them from prying eyes. When he turned the car off he glanced at her.

“What
are you doing?” she asked softly, her voice low, and the desire thick in it.

He
stared at her, knowing that he should just keep driving, get them back to his
place so he could be with her, but goddammit, he needed to sample her right
now. He was unable to stave off his emotions. Dakota reached up and cupped her
cheek, rubbing his thumb across her bottom lip, back and forth. Her breaths
became shallow, quick. They stayed silent, just watching each other. He leaned
in and brushed his lips against hers.

That
soft and gentle kiss turned into something stronger, more passionate. She
tilted her head and moved closer. He speared his hands in her hair, caressing
her scalp as their tongues stroked along each other. She made little mewling
noises, the sounds spearing straight to his cock. She started to move, and soon
she was straddling him, her pussy right on his erection, her breasts pressed to
his chest.

“I
want you Dakota. God, I need you.” She breathed against his mouth and moved her
hands to the fly of his pants. Dakota didn’t want to be with her for their
first time in the car, but he didn’t stop her either. He was a selfish bastard,
and wanted Tawny like a fiend. He wanted to bury his cock deep inside of her
until she was branded as his.

She
undid his pants and pulled his cock out, stroking it in pressurized motions.
Tawny went back to kissing him, licking his lips, teasing him to the point of
madness. He all but ripped the button from her pants in his attempt to get them
off, but he stopped and molded his hands against her breasts, teasing and
tweaking the stiff nipples. She continued to grind her cunt against his cock,
their pants blocking actually penetration.

“I
want you so fucking bad.” He nipped and licked at her throat and growled
against her flesh. She sighed and moaned, moved her pussy on him back and
forth, harder and faster. She reached between their bodies and rubbed his dick
through his jeans. He hissed out in ecstasy.

“Wait,
baby,” he said, breathing heavily. “I want your first time to be in a bed.”

She pulled back, breathing hard.
“Then take me to your fucking house, and finish this,” she said in a heated,
urgent voice, and he wasn’t about to deny his woman.

****
 

Dakota
slammed Tawny against the wall of his apartment and took her mouth in a rough
and demanding kiss. Something had come over him as soon as he had brought her
into his home, like a wild animal rising up from the very darkest parts of him.
She was Dakota’s, and there wasn’t anything or anyone that would change that,
not even a brother of his MC, or some pussy dipshit.

As
it was, on a good day and when there wasn’t any threat of another male coming
in contact with her, Dakota could handle his possessiveness and jealousy. But
if any other motherfucker touched Tawny, looked at her in a sexual way, or even
spoke to her in a way that didn’t sit well with him, a beast rose up inside of
him, wanting to beat some ass. It was not something he could control, had
gotten worse as the years passed and he let his need for her consume him. It
was even worse now that they had gotten to this point in their life where he
knew she would be his. He had finally realized he was one of
those
guys when it came to the woman he
loved. He was like a Grizzly, territorial of what was his, ready to knock
someone down that threatened the woman that he considered only his, and Dakota
had no qualms about hurting someone that even thought he could take Tawny away.
These emotions were irrational and dangerous, he knew that, and although he
would never hurt Tawny, and in fact would harm anyone else that wanted to
challenge him for her, Dakota also couldn’t stop this. It was like a freight
train inside of him, one that was going far faster than he could comprehend or
control,
and that had just derailed.